Thursday, March 2nd saw the Niagara College women's basketball program relegated to the consolation bracket of the 2017 OCAA Championship as the team was defeated 60-57 by the host Seneca Sting. The Knights will now face the Durham Lords in the consolation semi-final at 3:00pm on March 2nd.
"Today was clearly a tough loss and both coaches and players are extremely disappointed in the result" said Niagara College women's basketball head coach mike Beccaria. "We were down 10 at the half and staged a valiant but unsuccessful comeback."
The Niagara side led 18-4 after the first quarter. The team's undoing came in the second quarter, a frame that saw the team outscored 22-8, including a dominant 19-4 run that put the Knights in a hole that was simply too deep to climb out of. Despite outscoring the Sting in both the third and fourth quarters, Niagara was simply unable to overcome the deficit.
The Knights received a dominant performance from fourth year point guard Alyssa McCabe. The Niagara Falls native almost single-handedly clawed the Knights to victory. The former A.N. Myer Marauder finished with 27 points, seven rebounds, five steals, and three assists. She was named Niagara Knights player of the game for the effort.
With their medal hopes dashed, the Knights will look to regroup at 3:00pm when the team takes on the Durham Lords. For all information regarding the 2017 OCAA women's basketball Championship please visit the tournament website at http://ocaa.com/championships/wbkl/2016-17/index
